A 50-year old Manitowoc man wanted by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections was found dead in his downtown apartment after a special operations squad entered the residence Wednesday night. “At this point we don’t know the actual manner of death,” said Captain Scot Luchterhand. “There were no obvious signs of trauma to Augustine’s body. It appears it may have been some sort of prescription drug overdose, but we don’t know that for a fact.” Augustine was found dead in an apartment closet. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.
Luchterhand said officers had been trying to make contact with Steven Augustine throughout the day. His department had several contacts with Augustine over the past five days. Officers had also been told that Augustine had borrowed a .45 caliber handgun to retaliate against someone with whom he’d had an earlier confrontation at a local tavern.
Augustine served a lengthy prison term for stabbing a sheriff’s deputy in the 1980’s. “He’s had a history of some serious situations where safety really needs be a consideration because of his violent encounters in the past,” said Luchterhand. Officers made entry to the apartment after deploying a flash-bang device.
Damon Ryan, WOMT
